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LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Rams scored only one touchdown in Sunday’s 34-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but it really didn’t matter. They finished the regular season as the NFL’s highest-scoring team, one year after finishing as the NFL’s lowest-scoring team.

“Man,” Rams left guard Rodger Saffold said, “that’s amazing.”

Really, though, it’s historic.

The Rams are now the only team in the Super Bowl era, which began in 1966, to go from last to first in scoring from one season to the next. The only other team throughout history to accomplish that feat was the 1965 49ers, according to research from the Elias Sports Bureau. The Rams went from averaging 14.0 points per game in 2016 under Jeff Fisher to 29.9 points per game in 2017 under Sean McVay, the youngest head coach in modern NFL history.

The Rams finished with an 11-5 record and remained the No. 3 seed in the NFC despite resting their starters and dropping the finale. They’ll now host the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday (kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. ET on NBC) and can advance to face the Minnesota Vikings on the road in the second round with a win.

The Rams ended a 12-year playoff drought largely because their offense finally caught up to their defense.

It started with McVay, the 31-year-old who is already considered one of the game’s sharpest offensive minds. He brought with him a slew of talented coaches, including offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur, who previously worked with Matt Ryan; quarterbacks coach Greg Olson, a longtime offensive coordinator; and offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, who helped the Buffalo Bills become the NFL’s best rushing team over the past two years.

Then sixth-year general manager Les Snead added all the right pieces, including left tackle Andrew Whitworth, center John Sullivan and three standout receivers — Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp. Through all that, Jared Goff made significant strides as a second-year quarterback, enough to be named a first alternate for the Pro Bowl. And Todd Gurley re-established himself as a premier running back, enough to be considered for the MVP award.

“The mentality that we have now has been pretty much a complete 180 from the year before,” said Saffold, in his eighth year with the organization. “I expected success, but going from worst to first, that’s amazing to me.”

“Sean, like any player would say, came in, and he set the expectations and the bar for how this team should be producing,” Rams left guard Jamon Brown added. “It’s not a shocker that we stand first in the NFL in scoring.”

Many would disagree. The Rams weren’t just bad on offense last year, they were deplorable. And their offensive struggles date back much further than that. They finished each of their previous 10 seasons outside of the top 20 in Defense-adjusted Value Over Average and through that went eight years without producing a 1,000-yard receiver.

Then McVay came along.

True to form, McVay — the likely coach of the year — deflected credit. He noted that a lot of the Rams’ points have come from a Wade Phillips-led defense that forced 28 turnovers and a John Fassel-led special teams unit that featured the game’s most productive kicker, Greg Zuerlein.

“I thought our players did a nice job of being able to consistently play pretty well throughout the course of the year; coaches put guys in good positions,” McVay said. “We talk about points as being one of the most important factors, but for us it’s about winning football games and doing those things the right way. Next week is a great challenge, and I know we’re excited about that.”

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers has been “medically cleared to return” to action after missing seven games with a broken right collarbone, the Green Bay Packers quarterback announced on Instagram Tuesday night.

Rodgers was hurt Oct. 15 during a loss to Minnesota. He returned to practice Dec. 2 and is eligible to rejoin the 53-man roster Friday, which means the two-time MVP could suit up for Green Bay’s game Sunday at Carolina.

“It’s been a long road … but I’m happy to say I’ve been medically cleared to return,” Rodgers wrote Tuesday night. “Thanks for all the love, support, prayers and well wishes over the past 8 weeks and a big thank you to Dr. (Pat) McKenzie and our incredible training staff.”

The Packers (7-6) likely need to win their final three games to make the playoffs.

Rodgers had his collarbone scanned Monday morning. That afternoon, with the team in the middle of game-planning for Carolina, coach Mike McCarthy wasn’t sure whether Rodgers or backup Brett Hundley would be his quarterback.

“I’d like to know as soon as possible,” McCarthy said. “Frankly, it’s best for Aaron to know as soon as possible. He’s the one that has to get ready and, obviously, in his mind he’s ready to go if you watch him practice and the conversations with him. But this is a medical decision and Dr. McKenzie is in touch with a number of different medical experts and they’re evaluating the information.”

Those meetings ran deep into Tuesday before a conclusion was reached.

The Packers were 4-2 in Rodgers’ six starts, including the Minnesota game, where he was hurt on the second possession on a hit by Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr. In the three prior games, he threw 10 touchdown passes with only one interception in in consecutive victories over Cincinnati, Chicago and Dallas.

After playing the Panthers, who at 9-4 are in position for the top NFC wild card, the Packers have a rematch against NFC North-leading Minnesota before finishing the season at Detroit. Green Bay’s final three opponents have a combined record of 26-13.

The Packers went 3-4 in Hundley’s seven starts, including back-to-back overtime wins over Tampa Bay and Cleveland that kept their playoff hopes alive and made Rodgers’ return a tantalizing possibility.

“We’ve got a chance,” left tackle David Bakhtiari said after Sunday’s victory at Cleveland. “We know what the magic number is. We still have everything in front of us. It’s go time.”

The Silicon Valley is known as the world epicenter of the tech industry. Yet, when the San Francisco 49ers relocated to Santa Clara to begin playing at Levi’s Stadium, the team was surprised to learn that a mere three-percent of high school students in the Santa Clara school system passed the AP Calculus examination.

Since its founding in 1991, the 49ers Foundation has been committed to providing opportunities to children in underserved communities to help keep them, “safe, on track and in school.” Recognizing the likely cause of low AP Calculus test score results as a gap in STEM education opportunities, the 49ers shifted their educational strategy to address this issue upon moving to Santa Clara.

To do this, the 49ers launched two science and math-based educational initiatives targeted toward Santa Clara area children: The 49ers STEAM Education Program and the 49ers STEM Leadership Institute. Through these endeavors, the team reaches over 60,000 children per year with both high-level and intensive STEM and STEAM education opportunities.

Building Levi’s Stadium provided the 49ers with a unique opportunity to reimagine what STEAM education could look like. Constructing a 20,000 square foot museum space within the stadium, the 49ers carved out specialized classroom and teaching areas to provide opportunities for children in Kindergarten through 8th grade to learn about the science and math behind football.

“In building Levi’s Stadium, the York family wanted to create impactful community programming centered around education. The museum began as a conduit for an education program. What we envisioned at that point was a program that would bring children to the stadium and use football and the stadium as platforms to get kids to engage with and be more interested in STEAM subjects,” said Jesse Lovejoy, the 49ers’ director of STEAM education and director of the 49ers Museum.

Through the 49ers STEAM Education Program, students from Kindergarten through 8th grade travel to the 49ers Museum at Levi’s Stadium to engage in project-based STEAM learning. Students not only travel through the museum, but enter into specially designed, highly technological classrooms where they engage with 49ers instructors on STEAM topics related to football. The curriculum provided by the 49ers educational staff is customized to the students’ grade and their teachers’ overarching in-class coursework. Students attend the field trip completely free of charge, with the 49ers not charging an admission fee and even paying for transportation to Levi’s Stadium.

“When you see how kids engage with the content, you can see why the 49ers’ investment matters. In order to have students entering college, post-high school vocational training and the workforce prepared and hungry to pursue STEAM careers, you have to light a fire inside of them. You must show them these things are relevant. Sometimes you have to do that using a vehicle that they understand, but don’t necessarily appreciate, as being a conduit for those things. Football is exactly that,” Lovejoy explained.

What began as a plan to serve 20,000 children annually with high-level STEAM education lessons quickly became much bigger and more impactful than expected.

“We launched the program in 2014 and the original plan was to serve 20,000 kids in the first year. We were able to host over 30,000 kids in the first year, after turning 15,000 away because of logistics, and saw we had an incredible way to engage kids around STEAM,” Lovejoy noted.

Seeing the breadth by which the team could impact Santa Clara area children through STEAM education, Lovejoy Jed York, owner of the 49ers, to do something unprecedented: Re-open construction on a stadium that was opened just a year before.

“I went to ownership and told them I thought we had something we needed to grow. I told them I wanted to build another classroom. The conversation lasted five-minutes and the York family said that they’re committed to growing this and if building was needed to grow it, they would do it. Not only that, but they told me to make sure what we built was the best and most engaging thing out there in STEAM education,” Lovejoy recalled.

For the 49ers’ ownership group, the bold investment in education has paid dividends.

“Both my parents and [co-chairman] Denise’s parents felt that education was the way to lift yourself up. In being able to do that and learning how to learn, you could teach yourself anything. If you give students the confidence that they can learn anything, they become confident individuals who accomplish more,” 49ers co-chairman, Dr. John York, said.

Holding this commitment to education, the York family also launched the 49ers STEM Leadership Institute in partnership with the Silicon Valley Education Foundation, Santa Clara Unified School District and Chevron. The six-year program provides selected students at Santa Clara’s Cabrillo Middle School and Santa Clara High School access to an additional 320 hours of education per year on STEM topics. Students receive this education in a uniquely designed STEM Fabrication lab, featuring a full suite of digital fabrication tools and prototyping machines. Students not only learn the math and science behind using 3D printers, vinyl cutters and milling machines, but develop the leadership skills necessary to successfully navigate the tech industry.

“In selecting the core values, we were trying to pick out the things that make a leader. It isn’t intelligence or passing the AP Calculus test that makes one a leader. There are a great deal of things which make one a leader, one of which is learning to take risks. If you have no opportunity to learn how to take risks, possibly fail and then pick yourself up and work, you won’t learn that,” Dr. York remarked.

Presenting risk taking opportunities in a safe, controlled environment is just one way the 49ers STEM Leadership Institute is closing the tech learning opportunity disparity between students in the Silicon Valley. Many associated with the program laud the networking opportunities it presents as the institute’s main benefit.

Medha Kini, a 10th grade participant in the 49ers STEM Leadership Institute, found a new career path through an institute networking opportunity.

“For me, this program really benefits my future, because of the opportunities we get. A few years ago, we had a speaker from Pixar come and talk about her job. That was really interesting to me, because I like to draw and use math in my drawings. She talked about how part of her job as a technical artist is to program her animations to move. This is now something I want to pursue,” Kini said.

Stories like Kini’s make the 49ers believe their heavy investment in STEAM education is paying off.

“Networking is very important. Being able to meet people in the industry doesn’t happen for all students. These students just think these meetings are ordinary life now, though. 10th grade students can now imagine jobs they can hold other than becoming a doctor, lawyer, fireman or policeman. This is a real bonus, not only to them, but the world,” Dr. York remarked.

Leaders in tech education echo Dr. York’s sentiments on networking.

Earlier this year, the 49ers hosted 100 female student participants of Techbridge Girls—a San Francisco area nonprofit aimed at increasing academic and job opportunities for girls and women in STEM—at the STEAM Education Program at Levi’s Stadium. These students not only learned about the science behind the design of a football face mask, but heard firsthand how STEM plays into a variety of career fields within an NFL organization.

“Our girls came out of this experience with higher understanding of a new pathway to STEAM careers they may never have thought or dreamed of. For us, the impact is about exposing girls to new opportunities that may have never been considered in their wildest thinking, but now become part of their arsenal of opportunities as they enter the industry. We serve girls from low income communities and one of the biggest barriers often is the ability to have social capital, which means having a network allowing them to navigate and open doors in this field,” Techbridge Girls’ CEO, Nikole Collins-Puri, said.

In two-years, the first cohort of 49ers STEM Leadership Institute students will sit for the AP Calculus examination and begin receiving college acceptance letters. Dr. York notes results on the examination and university placement will serve as measures of the program’s success. Yet, he notes that even he has learned from the program.

“This is part of my own process of learning to learn. When you can teach others to learn, it’s something that has a positive influence on a greater number of people who will grow to be leaders as adults. We had no vision that what we’re seeing in these programs would be this exciting,” Dr. York said.

PITTSBURGH — There is only one team that can stop the Pittsburgh Steelers from repeating as AFC North champions.

The Pittsburgh Steelers.

Barring catastrophic injury to star players, the spoiler isn’t going to come from elsewhere within the division.

Cincinnati’s also-ran status was reinforced Sunday during Pittsburgh’s 29-14 home win. Baltimore entered Week 7 with the NFL’s 31st-ranked offense and could hit rock bottom after gaining just 208 yards in a 24-16 loss at Minnesota. And Cleveland remains a winless laughingstock after a 12-9 overtime flop vs. Tennessee.

MORE: NFL playoff picture after Week 7

Those defeats give the Steelers (5-2) a two-game AFC North cushion over three sub-.500 rivals. Also sporting a 3-0 AFC North record, Pittsburgh should continue to build upon what is the largest lead of any AFC division leader and begin angling for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Provided the Steelers don’t do themselves in.

On that, there is no guarantee.

Pittsburgh players have a penchant of creating their own drama that can prove detrimental to the team goals the Steelers should be focused on accomplishing.

Two weeks ago, the Steelers were 3-2 and coming off losses in two of their previous three games. A stunning 23-17 overtime road loss to previously winless Chicago was marked not only by horrible run defense, but obvious signs of overlooking an inferior foe. The same script unfolded during a 30-9 home loss to Jacksonville in Week 5.

“People are always talking about how we play down to our opponents,” Steelers safety Mike Mitchell acknowledged.

Just as notable was what had transpired off the field. Lengthy internal debate about how to handle the national anthem in light of President Donald Trump’s incendiary comments led to the Steelers focusing far too much on pre-game protocol rather than beating the Bears.

Antonio Brown threw a tantrum — and a cooler — on the sideline when Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger missed the wide-open wide receiver on a route against the Jaguars. Roethlisberger, who started a firestorm last winter by discussing potential offseason retirement, created another stir about his commitment and performance level when he told media, “Maybe I don’t have it anymore,” following his five interceptions vs. Jacksonville.

The controversy didn’t end even when Roethlisberger and the Steelers rebounded last week with a huge win in Kansas City. That’s because media reports surfaced claiming wide receiver Martavis Bryant had demanded a trade because of his role in the offense. Bryant’s frustration continued after the Bengals win when he took a shot at fellow wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster on social media before deleting the message.

All of this comes on the heels of Brown’s antics last season, when he streamed a Mike Tomlin postgame speech on Facebook that featured Pittsburgh’s head coach calling New England “a— h—s” and telling his players to stay “low-profile” in comments about the Patriots prior to the AFC title game. The incident became a week-long distraction prior to New England’s lopsided win.

Maybe these occurrences have become so frequent that Steelers players didn’t even blink while this year’s team was getting back on track. Or maybe the impact is being overblown by outsiders who don’t understand the unique locker-room dynamic that develops for every NFL team.

“We really don’t pay much attention to it,” Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward told Sporting News. “We’ve got a really good group of guys. We have trust in each other.”

Added Mitchell: “Around here, it’s never really chaos. We always keep things even-keeled. We never get too high. We never get too low. We knew we needed a good response game vs. Kansas City, and we did that.”

Just how good the Steelers are — and can be with continued improvement — was on display against the Bengals.

Running back Le’Veon Bell is hitting his stride with a third-straight 100-yard rushing game. He helped Pittsburgh control the clock for 35:15 with 35 carries for 134 yards. Roethlisberger was efficient in a 224-yard, two-touchdown showing without an interception.

Defensively, the Steelers basically erased Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green (three catches for 41 yards) and sacked a gimpy Andy Dalton four times, forcing two interceptions. Pittsburgh also was stout against the run for a second straight game, outside of a 25-yard Joe Mixon carry in the first quarter. Cincinnati’s other 16 rushes yielded just 46 yards.

“Our No. 1 goal was to stop the run and take away (Green),” Mitchell said. “For the most part we did that.”

Special teams did its part, too, with Chris Boswell connecting on all five of his field-goal attempts, helping to make amends for an offense still struggling to convert in the red zone. A 44-yard pass from safety Robert Golden to wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey on a fake punt helped set up one of those kicks and allowed the Steelers to run extra clock in the fourth quarter.

WATCH: Joe Haden gets INT off Green’s back

Pittsburgh is tied for the AFC’s best record but is emerging as the conference’s best all-around team. The Steelers already have a playoff tiebreaker advantage over the Chiefs (5-2) and could earn the same with the Patriots (5-2) in Week 15 if they’re able to win at Heinz Field against a New England squad that will be playing its third straight road game — and on a short week, no less.

Not that Steelers right guard David DeCastro wants to hear about any of this.

Like Mitchell and Heyward, DeCastro downplayed the effect the theatrics had on the club earlier this season. He also didn’t proclaim the Steelers have figured out all their on-field issues, either.

“I don’t think it is behind,” DeCastro told Sporting News. “I hope it’s behind, but you never know. We could come out and lay an egg next week (at Detroit). I hope we don’t, but it’s possible.

“I hope people realize that. I hope they realize how hard it is to do this.”

And how much easier it would be for the Steelers without self-inflicted headaches.